'We’re gonna run out of farmland:' Ontario Federation of Agriculture worried about increased urban sprawl
As the Ford government looks to boost the province’s housing infrastructure, the OFA is collecting signatures on a petition.
“It's our hope that that this will be a tool to help show to government just how much the Ontario resident believes in Canadian food,” Ethan Wallace, director of the OFA told CTV News Thursday.
Their campaign called ‘Home Grown’ first started in summer 2021 but has since collected more than 41,000 signatures.
Wallace said the OFA is “disappointed” the province hasn’t revealed a comprehensive plan that focuses on redevelopment of current buildings instead of relying on urban sprawl.
“Ontario is a growing province. We have a growing population (and) there's going to be a continued need to grow, to build homes. What we as OFA are asking is that there be a diverse plan for it so that it's not all on (agricultural) land.” Wallace said.
According to the OFA, Census data from 2020 revealed Ontario loses 319 acres of farmland every single day to urban sprawl.
“Just think of how big 58 city blocks is. That's how much farmland we're losing every day,” Essex County farmer Leo Gilbeault told CTV News from his combine Thursday.
Gilbeault produces corn, soybeans and wheat from his 2,000 acre family farm.
He is worried farmland will get “gobbled up” by development and it will eventually impact Canada’s food security.
“Canada's one of only seven countries around the world that's food sufficient,” said Gilbeault. “If we keep losing farmland at this pace, we'll be will be one of those countries that will be very dependent on somebody else for our food.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.